Towers of Midnight/Chapter 37
Summary : Gawyn Trakand contemplates life in the Royal Palace of Andor. Gawyn realizes that he is jealous of Rand and the life he is leading, a life that Gawyn should be having. Gawyn must step aside from leading and now serve Egwene al'Vere, as her Warder as he loves her. He sees Birgitte Silverbow and asks if he can say goodbye to Elayne Trakand as he plans to go back to the White Tower. Birgitte tells Gawyn that she is asleep attending to Aes Sedai matters. Gawyn pieces that Egwene is also probably there as well and then remembers Kaiseas warning about the Bloodknifes attacking when a person is at their most vulnerable. He sprints to the Traveling grounds. : Egwene appears with the Wise Ones and Leane Sharif to where the Aes Sedai hiding. Saerin Asnobar reports that they were carrying out their fake ploy when the Black Ajah attacked. Shevan Gadarin and Carlinya Sorevin are killed in the initial assault. El'Nynaeve ti al'Meara Mandragoran is still above in the Tower. Egwene asks Saerin to leave, but Saerin can't. They look overhead at a purple dome. Egwene sends all other Aes Sedai away to hide, while she takes Leane and the Wise Ones to hunt the Black Ajah and Mesaana. : Slayer appears behind Perrin Aybara. Slayer wants the Dreamspike back. Perrin threatens to destroy it but Slayer knows Perrin doesn't have the strength to do this, although his eyes flicker to Dragonmount behind Perrin. Slayer tells Perrin that Luc deeply hates Perrin. The two rush forward at each other. : Gawyn charges into the White Tower and comes across Celark and Mazone, two former Younglings. He tells them to follow him. He reaches Egwene's room and enters. A Tower maid is held immobile by Air inside, having set off Egwene's traps. Gawyn rushes to check on the sleeping the sleeping form of Egwene when he is attacked by two black blurs. Mazone runs to get more help while Celark helps Gawyn fight the two Bloodknives. The two Bloodknives turn on Celark and kill him. Gawyn plans to defend for as long as he can till help arrives. Gawyn spots Mazones fallen body outside the room. A third blur enters the room and they all attack in unison. : Perrin lets his inner wolf free and attacks Slayer. The two fight, using their weapons and changing the surroundings around them to their advantage. Slayer manages to distract Perrin with a life-like statue of himself and cuts the dreamspike free. Slayer grabs the dreamspike and retreats. Perrin follows with Hopper, who has managed to find where the two are fighting. : Egwene hides behind a wall taking a break from the fighting. She spots Evanellein Lorn and Mestra ahead. Egwene destroys Mestra with a Fire ball and makes Evanellein think she is stupid. Mesaana appears beside Egwene all wrapped in black. Egwene begins to question why she is even fighting and realizes that her mind is being manipulated. She shifts to another room. Nynaeve is there and nearly blasts Egwene. Nynaeve reports that Leane and Siuan are still alive and that Nynaeve managed to kill Notori with fire. Egwene suggests that 19 ter'angreal were stolen which is probably the amount of Black Ajah in Tel'aran'rhiod now. The Wise Ones are still in the fight and seem to be enjoying themselves. Both women move to another area. Egwene consumes Sedore Dajenna by not channeling but creating fire. The two keep shifting from corridor to corridor. Bair appears telling them their strategy is obvious. They are then attacked by six women. : Slayer races through the Tower, Perrin hot on his heels. Hopper peels off to try and get ahead of him. As Perrin runs through the White Tower he sees Aes Sedai fighting. He calls out the Egwene, who tries to hold him in place. Perrin shrugs it off telling her she should not be in the dream. Egwene tries to again hold Perrin in place with ropes, but Perrin again shrugs them off. An unknown Black sister shoots Balefire at Perrin. He puts his palm up imaging the weave disappearing. It disintegrates the wall behind them. Egwene tears the wall down on top of the Black sister. Egwene is incredulous Perrin stopped balefire. Perrin hears Hopper in pain and runs off after his friend. : Gawyn has been cut a dozen times in his fight with the Bloodknives. The Bloodknives are wearing him out on purpose, ready to strike when he is his weakest. Gawyn leaps forward and strikes one down. The two renew their onslaught on Gawyn. Gawyn remembers the phrase Kaisea had said about 'where there is light, there is shadow' and knocks down the lantern in the room, plunging it into darkness. Gawyn waits and then strikes, his blade striking true leaving him with one more assassin. Gawyn can feel himself becoming faint and taps the floor on purpose. The assassin strikes low, hitting him in the side. Gawyn strikes high, beheading the final assassin. Gawyn falls to the floor unconscious. : Katerine Alruddin kneels at Mesaana's feet. Masaana lashes her across her back in punishment. Masaana is frustrated with the appearance of the dreamspike. It has stopped her from Traveling out to the area she had selected to battle the Egwene and her Aes Sedai. She wants to gain control of the dreamspike, so she can use it against the other Forsaken as well as Egwene. As she is about to send out Katerine again, she places a weave on her. : Perrin appears in front of Slayer. Slayer holds Hopper in one arm and a knife in the other. Slayer throws Hopper off the side of the building. Perrin leaps at Slayer and they both fall of the ledge. Slayer stabs Perrin in the arm with his knife. Perrin manages to get free of Slayer and land underneath Hopper, catching the wolf. Slayer then sends an arrow, which goes through Hopper and into Perrin's leg. Perrin rushes at Slayer imagining his leg being healed. Slayer tells him it doesn't work this way, knocking him down. Perrin smells terror and sees a nightmare behind Slayer. He drives both of them into the nightmare. Characters *Gawyn Trakand *Birgitte *Egwene al'Vere *Leane Sharif *Amys *Bair *Melaine *Saerin Asnobar *Morvrin *Alviarin Freidhen *Nynaeve al'Meara *Brendas *Siuan Sanche *Yukiri *Perrin Aybara *Slayer / Luc Mantear *Mazone former Youngling *Celark former Youngling *Hopper *Evanellein *Mestra *Sedore Dajenna *Mesaana *Unknown Aes Sedai *Katerine Alruddin Referenced *Elayne Trakand *Sleete *Shevan *Carlinya *Notori *Rand al'Thor *Faile Aybara Places *Royal Palace of Andor in Caemlyn *White Tower in Tar Valon *''Tel'aran'rhiod'' *Wolf Dream Referenced *Cairhien *Ghealdan Items *Dreamspike